There's snow way winter gets farmer down

Winter has been hard for Greg Novak, a farmer in Gilman, Minn., who has to remove the snow to protect his greenhouses. But, he says, "as long as you're moving it, you might as well do something with it." So he made it into "Granddaddy," a 50-foot snowman, which is now attracting tourists. "It puts a smile on people's faces," he said. "When people smile, you know you're doing a good thing." (It's all about attitude.)

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Posted Mar. 19, 2014 at 2:00 AM

Posted Mar. 19, 2014 at 2:00 AM

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Winter has been hard for Greg Novak, a farmer in Gilman, Minn., who has to remove the snow to protect his greenhouses. But, he says, "as long as you're moving it, you might as well do something with it." So he made it into "Granddaddy," a 50-foot snowman, which is now attracting tourists. "It puts a smile on people's faces," he said. "When people smile, you know you're doing a good thing." (It's all about attitude.)

Welcome: Joey Minscik recently got three traffic tickets within minutes driving just five blocks near Olympic Stadium in Montreal — two moving violations and one for having tinted windows in his pickup. He thinks his vehicle was targeted because of its Ontario plates. (Could there have been a rivalry game going on?)

'Nuther fish story: Lawson Boyle, 12, of Oak Grove, La., fishing in the Mississippi River, reeled in a 114-pound catfish last week, breaking the 2005 state record of 110 pounds. The fish outweighed the boy by 14 pounds. Lawson said it might have been the shad he was using for bait, but "I think the thing that done it was eating Vienna sausages," which he and his cousin, Bo, had for lunch. Said Bo: "It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It don't ever happen much."

What's that noise? After recently having a flat tire and replacing it with her spare, a Cleveland, Ohio, woman couldn't figure out the source of the loud thumping she was hearing. She took her car, only eight months old, back to the dealership, where mechanics discovered an 8-pound, $12,000 bundle of marijuana stashed inside the tire. Lorain County Sheriff's detectives said it's not the first time, and suspect vehicle transporters. (While you're at it, check inside the door panels.)

Traffic stopper: When it was time to go to deliver her baby last week, Polly McCourt and her husband, Cian, couldn't find an empty a cab on the street in front of their Manhattan apartment building. That was a problem for Polly, but not for daughter Ila, who made her arrival right there on the sidewalk. Better late than never, an ambulance arrived and took them to Lennox Hill Hospital, where all are doing just fine, thanks. (Where's a cab when you need one?)

Happily, a compassionate bystander stepped up to the manhole cover: Isabel Williams called 911 and then gave mother and child her scarf, then her coat and then the flannel shirt off her back to keep them warm. The new parents changed their plans and made the baby's middle name Isabel as an expression of thanks. "You just do what you have to do," said Williams. "And if they ever need a babysitter...;." (You're sure to get the call, Isabel.)

Yoshi, a husky-red heeler mix, disappeared from his backyard pen in Albuquerque and wasn't seen or heard from (no calls, no emails) for three years. Then last week his owner, Monique Martinez, got a call from an animal shelter in Las Vegas, N.M., 300 miles away, saying they had a dog with a microchip identifying her as the owner. Sure enough, it was Yoshi, but Martinez says she'll always wonder how and where her dog spent the last three years. (Yoshi ain't sayin'.)

After the Maine DOT declared a 1916 bridge across the Sandy River in Sharon no longer safe, town officials tried to remove it the, uh...;sudden way: using explosives. The old bridge withstood the blast, however, and didn't budge. They had to resort to a big excavator to eventually bring it down. (Strong, like a real Mainer.)

Fortune cookie: Emma Duvoll, a retired deli owner, recently visited Sammy's Noodle Shop in Greenwich Village, and decided to play the lottery with the number that was printed next to the pithy little blurb in her fortune cookie. Her ticket won a $2 million jackpot. Emma is off on a trip to Europe (and Sammy may never see her in his restaurant again).

Remember — if you lick the frosting off a doughnut, it's just a muffin, and muffins are healthy.